Folding machine



March 25, 1930. A.- R. RIDDERSTROM FOLDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 13, 1923 En drew 1?. Did I, erstrami fittorn ey Patented Mar. 25, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ANDREW R. RIDDERSTROM, OF NAHANT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE AS- SIGNMENTS, T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY FOLDING MACHINE Application filed October 13, 1923. Serial No. 668,345.

The present invention relates to machines for operating upon flexible material, and more particularly to machines for folding the margins of shoe uppers, such as Vamps, quarters, tips and the like.

Folding machines of the above-described character, of the step-by-step-feed type, are provided with a plow which initiates a fold in the margin of the material, and with a fold presser that presses down the fold initiated by the plow. The plows hitherto employed have usually been stationary, upstanding projections by which the margin of the material was literally plowed up as it was dragged past the plow by the feed means. In the machines illustrated .in Patents Nos. 1,527,391, 1,527,394 and 1,527,395, granted February 24, 1925, the plow is endowed with a back-and-forth movement in the line of feed, which is a great improvement. When folding shoe uppers provided with sharply concave or convex curves, however, it is sometimes desirable to slow down the feed, as is 7 more fully described in the said Patents Nos.

1,527,391 and 1,527,394. As the plow of the machines disclosed in the said patents is mounted to move with the feed elements, such slowing down of the feed naturally effects a corresponding slowing down in the operation of the plow. On slow feeds, therefore, the plow does not work so effectively as on faster feedS- It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a folding machine having a movable plow of the above-described character that shall operate efliciently irrespective of the operation of the feed means. Certain features of the invention comprise also a novel plow and novel plow-operating mechanism. Other and further objects will be explained in the following description, and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that the invention consists of the folding machine a preferred embodiment of which is illustrated and described herein and that it is intended to express in the appended claims all the novelty that the invention may possess.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective View, with parts broken away,

of the forward portion of a machine constructed according to a preferred embodimerit of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a detail plan, partly in section upon the line 2-2 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows, the scale being somewhat larger than in the other figures and parts being omitted for clearness; 3 is an elevation of a portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a section taken upon the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows;

5 is a plan corresponding to the elevation of 3; Fig. 6 is a section taken upon the line 6-6 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig. 7 is a view of a detail.

The invention is illustrated in its preferred form as applied to a folding machine for folding the margins of shoe uppers, such as vamps, quarters and the like. The machine 15 provided with a lower feed block 41 and an upper feed point 30, between which a sheet of flexible material, like a shoe upper 2, is adapted to be intermittently gripped, and by which it is adapted to be fed or advanced, step by step, over a platform or support During this feed movement, the edge of the shoe upper first engages a gage 436, that is secured at 438 to the upper end of a bracket 61, after which it is advanced to and past two cooperating knives 352 and 353. The knife 353 is stationary, but the knife 352 may be thrown into operation, at the will of the operator, so as to snip or slit the margin of the upper, at will, and to this end, it is pivoted at 356 on the upper end of the same bracket 61, and is connected by a link 354 to mechanism (not shown) under the control of the operator, as is more fully explained in Patent No. 1,740,414, granted Dec. 17, 1929.

Vhether the margin is snipped or not, as may he desired, it is then advanced beyond a retainer 153 that acts to hold the stock against the support during pauses in the feed, but that is raised during the feeding movement. The other functions performed by the retainer and the retainer-operating mechanism will not be described herein, because fully described in the above-referred-to Patent No. 1,527,395, and in Patent No. 1,740,408,

granted Dec. 17, 1929, and because other retainers and other retainer-operating mechanisms may be employed without departing from the present invention. A plow 32, the folding nose 134 of which is preferably situated immediately to the rear of the retainer, as described in the aforementioned Patent No. 1,740,414, then acts to initiate a fold in 1 the margin of the material, and a fold presser 42 subsequently presses the fold flat against the body of the material. The parts are com pactly positioned, to enable operation upon stock having very sharp corners. The feed mechanism remains idle while the fold presser is pressing the fold, and the fold 'presser is inefiective during the feeding of the work.

The essential novelty of the present invention resides in the plow and its operating mechanism, but it will be well to make brief mention of the fold-presser-operating mechanism. A'fuller description will be found in the above-referred-to Patent No. 1,527,395,

and it will be understood that other foldpressers and other fold-presser-operating mechanisms may equally well be employed I within the spirit and scope of the present invention. The fold presser 42 is fioatingly pivoted at 146, Fig. 3, to a link 148 the other end of which is operated from a driving shaft 66, as is more fully described in the above-mentioned Patent No. 1,527,395. The exterior surface of the fold presser is cylindrical, as shown at 156, Fig. 3, so as to rock within a cylindrical bearing 158 provided at the free end of an arm 160 the other end of which is'pivoted at 162, Fig. 5. The fold presser is spring-pressed towards the support '24 by a compression spring 166, Fig. 1,

mounted. upon a rod 168 extending through an opening (not shown) in the arm 160 and screw-threaded into the frame. By means of the screw threads, the pressure of the spring upon the arm 160 may be adjusted, the ends of the spring being confined between the arm and a kerfed head 170 upon the rod 168. By

,means of this construction, the fold presser secured to, or integral with, a holder 93 that is secured, as by a set screw (not shown), to a rocking or oscillating support 94. The

rocking support is pivotally mounted about a rod 6 that is secured to the frame of the machine by a screw (not shown). The feed point 30 is pivotally mounted at 110 upon the rocking support 94, so as to be rocked therei with and with the lower feed block 41.

An arm member 36 is also pivotally mounted to rock or oscillate about the rod 96. The member 36 is provided with a diagonally disposed cylindrical opening 100 within which is sli dingly mounted a diagonally cylindrical block 102 the upper'fiat face of which is substantially horizontal, as shown at 104. The angle of inclination of the opening 100 is preferably in the neighborhood of thirty degrees. The cylindrical block 102 is adapted to be actuated by an eccentric or crank pin 106 of the driving shaft 66'. The eccentric or crank pin is rotatably mounted in the block 102 and extends through an opening 108 of the rocking member 36. Rotative movement of the shaft 66 will be converted by the eccentric into combined sliding and-- oscillating or rotativemovement of the block 102 and this, in turn, will efiect a rocking movement of-the rocking member 36 about the rod 96. A compression coiled spring 38, interposed between the rocking support 94 and the rockingmember 36, yieldingly connects the rocking supports '94 to the rocking member 36 to cause them to rock or oscillate together, as a unit. The coiled spring 38 yieldingly. maintains an arm 39 of the rocking support 94 in engagement with an adjustable portion 40 of the rocking member 36. The adjustable portion .40 of the rocking member 36'is shown as a set screw.

The feed point 30 is normally.yieldingly maintained in contact with the feed block 41 byacompression coil spring 112 coiled about a threaded rod 114 extendingthrough an opening 116 in the feed-pomta'rm 118 and secured at 43 to the rocking support 94.

By means of the threads upon the rod 114,

the pressureof the spring 112 uponthe feed point may be adjusted, the ends of the spring being confined between the feed-point arm 118 and a knurled nut 124 that is threaded upon the rod 114. The'feed-point arm 118 is provided with an adjustable screw 120. The upper fac 104 of the block 102 is adapted to engage the screw 120, thereby to raise-the feed point in opposition to the pressure ofthe spring 112... An additional adjustable .member 123 isprovided to prevent the feed point becoming lowered into contact with the feed block when the machine running idly,

thereby preventing the feed point pounding uselessly against the feed block when no stock is interposed.

Asthe driving shaft'66 is rotated, the rocking support 94 is rocked. from right to left and from left to right, as viewed in Fig. 4, lmparting an oscillating movement to the lowerfeed block 41 and the upper feed point 30 which are carried thereby. During the left-to-right movement, the feed point 30 will be separated from the'feed block 41 by the .action of the cylindrical block 102, which then occupies its upper positions. During the right-to-left movement, the block 102 will lie in the lower portions of the cylindrical opening 100, and the feed point will he spring-pressed into engagement with the feed block, which will thus advance to the fold presser the upper'clamped therebetween.

Curved portions of the work should not be red so rapidly'as straight portions. The above-described construction affords a novel means of varying the lengths of the feed steps, so as to feed the work by greater or by shorter feed strokes, at will. To this end, all that is necessary is to adjust angularly the rocking support 94 closer to, or farther from, the rocking member 36. The limits of oscillation of the rocking member 36 are, of course, fixed; but the farther away from the rocking member 36 that the rock ing support 94 is adjusted, the farther to the left, as viewed in Fig. 4, will the rocking support 94, with the feed point and the feed block carried thereby, oscillate. The limit of oscillation towards the left may be lined initially by means of the screw 40, and this will determine the maximum length of the steps of feed. The steps may .nen be shortened during the operation of the machine by pressing the rocking support 94, or the arm 39 thereof, in opposition to the for e exert-ed by the spring 38, towards the right, as viewed in Fig. 4.

This is accomplished, as is more fully illustrated and explained in Patent No. 1,740,414 aforesaid, by pressing upward and to the right, in the direction of the curved arrow, Fig. 4, about the rod 96, upon an arm 45 that projects out from the arm 39 of the rocking support 94, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. The free end of the arm 45 is adapted to be engaged by the free end of an arm 122 that is pivoted to the frame of the machine at 143. Pivotal movement of the arm 122 may be effected by a vertically disposed arm 145 the upper end of which is pivoted to the arm 122 at 147. The lower portion of the arm 145 is adapted to be engaged by either of two cams 29 and 31, shown more particularly in Fig. 7 as provided upon a single cam member 46. Rocking the cam member 46 in either direction will cause the cam 29 or the cam 31, as the case may be, to raise the arm 145. Raising the arm 145 will effect pivotal movement of the arm 122, the free end of which will engage the arm 45 to press the latter upwarchthereby adjustably limiting the length of the feed steps. The cam 29 has a higher throw than the cam 31. The cam 29 therefore permits of a more rapid adjustment than the cam 31, and provides also for a greater range of adjustment. As is explained in the said Patent No. 1,740,414, when the knife is thrown into operation, the feed steps will also be shortened, through the action of the cam 31, but to a smaller degree than when the cam 29 is rendered effective. To actuate the cam member 46, it is secured to one end of a rock shaft 151 that extends transversely across the machine, as indicated more particularly in Fig. 1, and to the other end of which is secured a lever 176 that is connected by a link 178 to meelmnism under the control of the operator.

Summarizing th operation of the preferred 11"lLCl 11, as thus far described, the shoe upper is advanced over the support 24, step by step, by the feed point 30 and the feed block 41; the plow 32 is actuated during pauses in the feed to initiate a fold in successive portions of the margin, step by step; and the fold presser 42, preferably situated immediately before the plow in the line of feed, is actuate-d step by step, during pauses in the feed, to press fiat the folds successively initiated by the fold presser during immediately prior pauses in the feed. Each folded portion is pressed while the next succeeding portion is being folded. The feed elements may feed by shorter or longer feed steps, as desired, and to this end, in the specific embodiment of the invention herein illustrated, the rocking member 36 and the rocking support 94 may be rocked or oscillated as a unit, provision being made, however, for adjustably limiting the degree of oscillation of the rocking support 94 and. therefore, adjustably limiting the lengths of the feed steps of the feed block 41 and the feed point 30 that are carried by the rocking support 94.

It remains now to describe the plow and its operating mechanism in fuller detail. The plow 32 is interin ediately carried upon a ever 34 one end of which is pivoted at 130 to the frame of the machine in such fashion as to permit the lever to pivot in a horizontal plane. The plow t-hereforemoves in substantially the plane of the upper, but at an angle to the direction of feed. The extreme limits of pivotal movement of the plow are indi cated in full lines and in dash lines in Fig. 2, and the limits of its movement in a direction transverse to the direction of feed are indicated between the arrows in the same figure. The other end of the lever 34 is j 'ieldingly maintained in en gagement with a projection 37 of the arm 36 by a leaf spring 132 that is fixed to the arm 36 in any desired manner, as illustrated at 1.40. When the arm 36 is rocked to the left, as viewed in F ig. 4, or downward, as viewed in Figs. 2 and 5, the projection 33'? will engage the lever 34 and cause the plow 32 to swing open about its pivotal point 130, in the direction of the curved arrow, Fig. 2. When the arm 36 is rocked in the opposite direction, the spring 132 will cause the plow to pivot in the opposite direction. The plow is thus oscillated once corresponding to each rocking movement of the rocking arm 36. As the plow is thus operated directly from the arm 36, Which is rocked by the eccentric 106' of the shaft 66, it will oscillate throughout its complete amplitude during each revolution of the shaft 66, irrespective of the amplitude of movement of the feed elements. Thus, the feed elements may be adjusted so as to move of feed movement, while the shaft 66 con tinues to rock the rocking arm 36, which is desirable when folding along very sharp, convex curves; but the plow will continue to plow up initial folds in the margin, and the fold presser 42 will continue to press the folds fiat until the sharp curve has been passed, after which the operator may again increase the length of the steps of feed. Such variation in the feed does not at all affect the operation of the plow.

The plow lever 34 and the projection 37 of the rocking arm 36 operate, in effect, as

though they were integrally, though flexibly, connected together. The plow and the feeding means thus operate as a unit, being controlled by the same rocking arm 36. The spring 132 holds the parts together, but pro vides for a little lost motion between them, and permits the plow to yield, furthermore, at thick places, such as seams, so as not to crush the stock. The'illustratedconstruction, furthermore, prevents too much separation of the plow from the feedpoint 30 and enables the knives 352 and 353 to be positioned nearer to the fold presser than would otherwise be possible.

Before the machine is started, it is desirable to raise the feed point from the feed block to permit the insertion of the upper therebetween. A preferred construction for raising the feed point is illustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and 6. The screw 123 of the feed point is adapted to rest upon the rocking support 94, as before describechand as is illustrated more particularly in Fig. 6, but the feed point is adapted to be raised, in opposition to the force of the spring 112, by a rod 300 that isvertically disposed in an opening 302 of the rocksupport 94. The rod 300 rests upon the head of a rod 304 that is slidably mounted in a vertical opening 306 provided transversely through the rod 96. The rod 304 is adapted to be raised by mechanism under the control of the operator, as is more fully described in the above-named Patent No. 1,740,414. The illustrated construction is of a little different design from that of the machine of the said patent, in order to make room for the projection 37 and connected mechanisms.

Many details of the illustrative machine have not been illustrated herein, and many illustrated parts have not been described, be-

cause unnecessary to an understanding of the though fully explained, are by no means restricted to the exact embodiments thereof to persons skilled in the art, and all such are considered to fall within the scope of the in- I vention, as defined in the appended claims.

l/Vhat is claimed is:

1. A folding machine having, in combination, means for feeding sheet material, a plow movable back and forth substantially in the line of feed for initiating a fold in the margin of the material, and means for vary ing the feed of the material without affecting the operation of the plow.

2. A folding machine having, in combination, means for feeding sheet material, a folder for folding the margin of the material, common means for actuating the feeding means and the folder, means for varying the feed of the material without affecting the operation of the folder, and a' fold presser for pressing the folded margin.

3. A. folding machine having, in combina- .t1on, means for feeding sheet material, a

folder for folding the margin of the material, means connected to the feeding means and the folder for actuating the feeding material, means for actuating the feeding means and the plow, a yielding connection between the actuating means and the feeding means, and a yielding connection between the actuating means and the plow.

5. A folding machine having, in combination, means for feeding sheet material, a

plow for initiating a fold inthe margin of the material, means for actuatlnf theplow and the feeding means, and means for actuat-ing the plow while maintaining the feeding means stationary.

6. A folding machine nation, means for feeding sheet material, a

having, in combiplow for initiating a fold in the-margin of the material adapted to be actuated in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the sheet material and at an angle to the direction of feed, means for actuating the'plow and the feeding means, and means for varying the feed without affecting the operation of the plow. x

7. A folding machine having, in combination, means for feeding sheet'material, a plow for initiating a fold in the margin of the material, a support for the feeding means, means for actuating the plow, means yieldingly connecting the feeding-means support to the actuating means, and means for forcing the feeding-means support towards the actuating means to effect a variation in the feed without affecting the operation of the plow.

8. A folding machine having, in combination, means for feeding sheet material, a plow for initiating a fold in the margin of the material, a rocking arm for actuating the plow, a rocking support upon which the feeding means is mounted and the rocking of which effects the operation of the feeding means, means for rocking the rocking arm, means yieldingly connecting the feedingmeans support tothe rocking arm, whereby the support and the rocking arm are rocked together as a unit, and means for forcing the feeding-means support towards the rocking arm to effect a smaller degree of rocking movement of the feeding-means support without affecting the degree of oscillation of the rocking arm, whereby the steps of the feed may be diminished without affecting the operation of the plow.

9. A folding machine having, in combim tion, means for feeding material, means for oscillating the feeding means, means for yieldingly connecting the feeding means, and the oscillating means and a plow for initiating a fold in the margin of the material actuated by the oscillating means.

10. A folding machine having, in combination, means for feeding material, means for oscillating the feeding means, means for yieldingly connecting the feeding means and the oscillating means, a plow for initiating a fold in the margin of the material actuated by the oscillating means, and means for ad justably limiting the oscillation of the feeding means.

11. A folding machine having, in combination, means adapted to pivot about an axis to feed material, means adapted to pivot about the axis for oscillating the feeding means, means for yieldingly connecting the feeding means, and the oscillating means, a plow for initiating a fold in the margin of the ,material actuated by the oscillating means, and means for ustably limiting the oscillation of the feeding means.

12. A folding machine having, in combination, means forfolding the margin of material, means for feeding the material, common means for oscillating the feeding and the folding means, and means yieldingly connecting the feeding means and the oscillating means. 7

13. A folding machine having, in combination, means for folding the margin of material, means for feeding the material, common means for oscillating'the feeding and the folding means, means for yieldingly connecting the feeding means, and the oscillating means, and means for adjustably limiting the oscillation of the feeding means.

1%. A folding machine having, in combination, a frame, a support pivotally mounted upon the frame, means for feeding mate rial adapted to move with the support, means for pivot-ally oscillating the support, a plow for initiating a fold in the margin of the material pivoted to the frame and connected to the oscillating means so as to be actuated thereby, and means yieldingly connecting the support and the oscillating means.

15. A folding machine having, in combination, means for folding the margin of material, a pivotally mounted support, means for feeding the material to the folding means adapted to move with the support, means pivotally mounted about the pivotal axis of the support adapted to effect pivotal oscillation of the support and actuation of the folding means, means for oscillating the pivotally mounted means, means yieldingly connecting the support and the pivotally mounted means, and means for adjustably limiting the degree of oscillation of the support to adjustably limit the extent of feeding action of the feeding means.

16. A folding machine having, in combination, a pivoted plow for folding the margin of material, a pivotally mounted support having a projecting arm, means for feeding the material to the plow mounted upon the support so as to move with the support, means adapted to effect pivotal oscillation of the support, means for oscillating the pivotally mounted means, a coil spring interposed between the support and the pivotally mounted means, a spring for maintaining the plow in yielding engagement with the pivotally mounted means to cause the pivotally mounted means to actuate the plow, and means adapted to be adjustably positioned in the path of oscillation of the projecting arm to adjustably limit the degree of oscillation of the support to adjustably limit the extent of feeding action of the feeding means.

17 A folding machine having, in combination, a movable plow for folding the margin of material, a pivotally mounted support, a feed block rigidly secured to the support, a feed point pivoted to the support, an arm pivotally mounted about the pivotal axis of the support having a diagonally disposed cylindrical opening, a diagonally cylindrical block slidingly mounted in the opening, an eccentric for actuating the block to cause the oscillation of the arm, means yieldingly connecting the arm and the support, means yieldingly connecting the arm and the plow to cause the arm to actuate the plow, the feed block and the feed point being adapted to feed the material step by step to the plow during the forward oscillation of the arm and the support, the block being adapted to separate the feed point from the feed block during the return oscillations of the arm and the support, and means for adjustably limiting the degree of oscillation of the support to adjustably limit the extent of feeding action of the feeding means.

18. A folding machine having, in combinae tion, means for feeding material, means'movable back and forth in the line of feed for foldingthe material, means for actuating the folding means back and forth in the line of feed to fold the material, and means for varying the feed of the material without affecting the operation of the folding means. 19. A folding machine having, in combination, means for folding material, means for pressing the folded material, means for feeding the material from the folding means to the pressing means, means for actuating the folding means back and forth in the line of feed to fold the material, and means for varying the feedof the material without affecting the operation of the folding means.

20. A folding machine having, in combination, means for feeding material, means m0vable between definite limits for folding the material, means for actuating the feeding means to feed the material and for actuating the folding means between the said limits to fold the material, means for varying the feed of the material without varying the limits of operation of the folding means, and means for pressing the folded material. 7 V

21. A folding machine having, in combination, means for feeding material, means for folding the material, means for actuating the feeding means and the folding means, a yielding connection between the actuating means and the feeding means, and a yielding connection between the actuating means and the folding means.

22. A folding machine having, in combina tion, means for feeding material, meansfo rfolding the material, means for actuating the folding meansand the feeding means, and means for actuating the folding means to fold the material while maintaining the feed-- ing means stationary. In testimony whereof, I havehereunto sub.- f I scribed my name this 11th day of October, p

ANDREW R. RIDDERSTROM. 

